It has been confirmed that late last night, the world lost a true genius in the art of car design. Sergio Scaglietti, the man behind the designs of the 1957 250 California Spider, 1958 250 Testa Rossa, and 1962 250 GTO, among others, has passed away. He was 91 years old.
Sergio Scaglietti doesn’t need too much of an introduction in the eyes of Ferrari lovers. He started his work in 1951 when he opened Carrozzeria Scaglietti - an Italian automobile design and coachbuilding company. The coachbuilder was located just across the road from Ferrari in Maranello, where the great Enzo Ferrari took notice of the talented designer. Scaglietti was one of the few designers that gained Enzo Ferrari’s trust and respect both through his bodywork and design skills. Scaglietti of course started designing cars for Ferrari, and was even honored with a few cars named after him, such as the 612 Scaglietti and 456M GT Scaglietti.
"He was one of my father’s best friends," said Piero Ferrari. "He was next to me with Marco Piccinini also the day my father died and stayed with me the whole night until the funeral. I loved him and he was a very important part of my life. The world is emptier without Sergio."
After a lifetime of dedication to the designing of vehicles, Sergio Scaglietti passed away at his home in Modena. The world has undoubtedly lost an automotive icon. We have great respect for his work and send our condolences to his family.
The latest video from the Rennsport Reunion IV event is called "This is how you meet your heroes" and, as its name suggests, it is a unique opportunity to get up close and personal with some of Porsche’s greatest racing heroes - be it cars or drivers.
Names like Hurley Haywood, Derek Bell, and Brian Redman are very familiar with Porsche fans and, in this video, these fans will get the chance to see them next to cars like the Porsche 917 and the Porsche 962 - cars that made history in the racing world. So, turn up your volume and listen to the exhaust notes of these two amazing cars.
Any company that makes it to 100 years has every reason to celebrate and Chevrolet is no exception. In the century that it’s been alive, the company has had many milestones, some more important than others. And that includes the world of motorsports.
In this video, Chevrolet has compiled snippets of some of the most important motorsport moments in their long and illustrious history. Chevrolet really dug deep into their archives just to make this three-and-a-half minute video and if you’re old enough to remember some of those moments, you can appreciate what the length of time really does to those with this long list of achievements.
A lot of of other autobrands have their history in auto racing, but very few have the heritage that the Bowtie has had. Any Chevy fan, let alone a racing fun in the purest sense of the world, should watch this video.
At the very least, it’s a short time capsule of sorts, one that you can look back on with fondness if you remember some of the greatest moments in Chevrolet’s long racing heritage.
If you thought the Transformers movie franchise did wonders for the Chevrolet Camaro’s marketing appeal, then you best be ready to watch this video because it’s going to blow you away.
We don’t mean that as a kind of hyperbole because that would do a disservice to the people behind this production. The video, which is titled ’Camaro: Heritage’ was made as a collaboration between Camaro5 and Camaro Generations members, to showcase a tribute of sorts for the Camaro heritage.
Over 10 current generation Camaros were featured in the video, as well as one of each past generation Camaro, in what can only be described as one of the most masterful and well-executed non-commercial fan projects we’ve ever seen.
We say that without a hint of exaggeration because this video is better than the hype we’re giving it. It doesn’t even matter if you’re not a fan of the Camaro. There’s actually a good chance that if you’re not, all you need to do is watch this video to turn into one.
One of the things automakers seek when they build a supercar is to see that car become a conversation piece everywhere it goes. In the case of the Lexus LF-A, the road towards becoming one of the world’s most talked about supercars began in the mind of Haruhiro Tanahashi, the man that became car’s official program head, and ended becoming one of the most important projects Lexus has done in its history.
In the years of development of the LF-A, one that took the better part of ten years to build, the project has undergone so many twists and turns it could have easily been a different supercar from what Lexus unveiled a few years ago.
For one, the LF-A was first designed with an all-aluminum chassis in mind but was later changed to carry 65 percent carbon fiber and 35 percent aluminum. The final version of the LF-A also comes with a central cockpit that’s made out of the former while the latter is likewise represented by front and rear subframes made out of aluminum.
In the end, the final version of the Lexus LF-A speaks for itself. For a car that took a long time to develop, it ended up becoming the kind of supercar Lexus always wanted it to be.
Ferrari has unveiled an exclusive video from the first edition of the Ferrari Tribute to Targa Florio, in 2011. The event features dozens of cars - both classic and modern - from Ferrari and has been held in some of the most spectacular places in Sicily between Catania and Palermo.
The event started on September 30th at Marina di Ragusa and continued on through October 1st at Taormina before finishing up on October 3rd at Palermo when the car’s parade arrived at the stage in front of the Politeama theatre.
The Ferrari Tribute was mainly an occasion filled with passion, shared during the special stages, mastered with innovative technology or just a stopwatch in one’s hand, followed by relaxing moments with the breathtaking views of a spectacular scenery.
A new edition will be held on the roads of Sicily in 2012!
Hold on to your seats, Porsche fans. There may be something brewing in Stuttgart that will completely change the landscape of Porsche in the coming years.
According to the German site, AutoBild.de, the German automaker is working on a completely new model called the Porsche 961. By now bells should be ringing in the heads of hardcore motorsports fans who remember a certain 961 racer that did a brief stint in the 80s. The old 961 only ran a total of three races - 24 Hours of Lemans, Camel GT Championship, and Lemans once again - before it experienced some technical difficulties and was laid to rest in the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart.
The 961 racer from the 80s was modeled after Porsche’s 959 sports car, but the newest rendition is rumored to be a V8-powered flagship car that takes after the Porsche 918 and will be slotted above the iconic 911. Details are still sketchy at this point, but rumors are that the 961 has been tagged under the internal code ’9X1’ and in addition to having a powerful engine, the car could also be built as a hybrid, with an electric motor providing additional power to the car to the tune of somewhere around 600 horsepower.
Rumored price tag for the upcoming Porsche 961 has been pegged at somewhere in the neighborhood of €200,000, which is a little under $300,000 based on current exchange rates. The flagship coupe is also expected to make its official debut in 2013, giving us enough time to digest all this information and build up the hype of what is you can bet is going to be Porsche’s new crown jewel.
UPDATE 09/27/2011: British magazine, CAR, has set up some new rumors about the upcoming Porsche supercar which will be placed between the current 911 and the upcoming 918. It seems that the new Ferrari 458 Italia competitor will be codenamed project 960 and will be built on Volkswagen Group’s new Mimo platform. The new 960 will have nothing in common with the 918 Spyder and will use the same components as the future facelifted 911. You won’t see a twin-turbo V8 engine under the hood either; instead Porsche will use a twin-turbo 3.8-liter boxer engine with an output of about 600bhp and 550 lb-ft of torque. Porsche will offer both coupe and roadster versions and prices will start from €200,000, or $270,000 at the current exchange rates. (CAR)
Ferrari’s "Prancing Horse" logo is arguably one of the most iconic brand logos in the world today. Not just in the auto industry. The entire world.
But while many of us can pick and point to a Ferrari logo from all corners of the world, very few of us actually know the history behind the black galloping stallion in front of the yellow crest.
How did the Ferrari logo begin and when did it emerge?
So many questions have resulted in varying answers and now, Ferrari has finally come out with a video explaining the history behind their world famous logo.
As it turns out, the story behind the logo was only told by Ferrari patriarch, Enzo Ferrari, just once. According to Ferrari, the horse was painted on the fuselage of one Francesco Baracca, considered as one of the top Italian fighter pilots of the First World War. The story goes that Ferrari was instructed by Baracca’s mother to use the Prancing Horse logo on his cars for good luck. Together with the Prancing Horse, Ferrari added a canary yellow background as an homage to the official colors of Modena.
Beginning as a shield with the initials ’S.F.’- Scuderia Ferrari - below the horse, the logo slowly evolved and has since taken a rectangular shape with the ’S.F.’ initials taken out and replaced with the now famous ’Ferrari’ name.
The rest, as they always say, is now steeped in automotive history.
The Ferrari 340 Mexico Berlineta is one of the most unique cars on the market, fetching an astounding $4.3 million at the RM Auctions in March 2011. That princely sum is justified considering the 340 Mexico only consists of three different chassis, each built exclusively for the 1952 Carrera Panamericana race in Mexico. One of these units, chassis number 0224 AT driven by Luigi Chinetti, was successful in crossing the finish lane in third place behind two Mercedes 300SL Gullwing models and this is the car GWA Tuning has chosen to celebrate with a tributary model.
Using a Ferrari456 platform as a base, GWA Tuning was able to bring the classic 340 Mexico Berlinetta to modern times. This 456 platform was re-bodied by Coach Building master, Mark Nungent, from Australia. The body was then fixed up with a new diffuser, rear spoiler, side vents, and front splitters, all from newer Ferraris. The body was also stretched by about 15 inches (mostly in the middle) to fit the new platform, but the wheelbase remained the same.
More details on the tributary Ferrari 340 Mexico Berlinetta by GWA-Tuning after the jump.
On August 20th and 21st, 2011, one of the most legendary Ferraris of all time will go down to the auction block for the very first time. The auction will be hosted by Gooding & Company, the official auction house of the Pebble Beach Concourse d’Elegance. This particular Ferrari, a 1957 250 Testa Rossa, is expected to draw record numbers, solely because of its stature in the history of the Prancing Horse.
We know plenty about rare Ferraris fetching insane bids in past auctions, but this one is expected to trump all other models in the past. Over the past few years, Ferraris have posted record-breaking bids, including a 1961 Ferrari California Spyder that went for over $10 million back in 2008 and a 1958 Ferrari 250 TR that was scooped for a record $12.4 million a year later in 2009.
UPDATE 08/21/11: The numbers are in and just like we anticipated, this rare 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa Prototype attracted the heavyweight bidders at the Gooding & Company auction at the Pebble Beach Concourse d’Elegance. We all expected it to sell higher than the $12.4 million price tag of another 250 Testa Rossa sold for two years ago and now we have the official price of the winning bid: $16.4 million.
Find out more about the Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa Prototype after the jump.
